Philip Tew - Education and Career

Education and Career

Tew was born in the London Borough of Enfield and attended Enfield Grammar School, a local selective school, which he entered in 1965.

After A-levels Tew attended the University of Leicester, where he gained a BA (Upper Second Class Hons.) in American Studies (with English and History). Subsequently he was awarded a PGCE in English (Middle and Secondary Schools), studying at Leicester Polytechnic (now De Montfort University). He worked in both primary and secondary schools in Leicester, Leicestershire and London. He also lectured in Further Education Colleges in English for the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA).

Tew worked in the early 1980s as a playleader on a Greater London Council (GLC) inflatable scheme alongside future novelist Will Self. After part-time research focusing on the novels of Kurt Vonnegut, Tew was awarded an MPhil in 1985. In 1995Tew left full-time employment to enter the PhD programme at the University of Westminster, completing his doctorate - on avant-garde, working class author, B.S. Johnson - in 1997. Manchester University Press published a revised version as an academic monograph in 2001.

Tew has held various full and part-time appointments at the following higher education establishments since 1990: University of Wolverhampton; University of Westminster; Jesus College, Cambridge; Debrecen University (Hungary); Szeged University (Hungary); Birmingham City University; University of Northampton and Brunel University.

Tew has lectured in North America, Taiwan, and Europe. His academic criticism is both recommended reading on university courses and stocked in college and university libraries worldwide.